Unfortunately campuses are a playground for thieves.  Some thieves could be classmates while others are persons who find students to be very careless about their personal items.

Here are some proven approaches for protecting your valuables.

1. Lock your dorm room whenever you are not in it, even if you are just down the hall hanging out.
2. Don’t put anything valuable close to the entry door.  The most common theft is a “grab-and-go” theft.  Thieves are much more reluctant to enter your room than they are to simply reach in through your door and take something.
3. Put your name in your textbooks on a common page once you are sure the book is needed.  Thieves won’t know that your name is there.  This also makes it easier to identify the book is yours if it is recovered.
4. Lock your laptop using one of the available commercial products.  You can find these at one of the following websites

• Tryten.com
• Targus.com
• kensington.com

5. Lock your bicycle with a u-bolt lock.  Whenever possible leave your bicycle in a place where there are a lot of people.
6. Record serial numbers for all valuable and place the sales receipt and the serial number in a secure location (e.g. parents home)
7. Talk with your parents about an add-on to their insurance policy to protect any valuables you may have.
8. Develop a theft alert system with those in your dorm.  Often your fellow dorm mates can help stop a theft by just being alert to someone lurking around your room.

Whenever you do have anything stolen, notify campus or local police quickly.  Often thieves will attempt to resell the items very quickly.

Topic suggested by Dalton Thompson, a student at West Virginia University..